This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation.

Facing a tide of anti-GMO activism, [UC Davis animal geneticist Alison] Van Eenennaam has taken it upon herself to advocate for the agritech industry. “If we don’t speak up and we lose access to editing,” she says, “we will have lost access to innovation, and that has these huge environmental consequences that the people who work in agriculture understand. But then the general public never hears from us, and so they get their agricultural information from Dr. Oz.” (To address this problem, she went on The Dr. Oz Show herself.)

As a result of her public face, she’s become a polarizing figure: Pro-biotech groups call her “the science advocate anti-GMO groups love to hate”; anti-GMO groups say her work is “marred by bias and scientific shortcomings.”

In January of 2019, Van Eenennaam launched a petition with the Cornell Alliance for Science, an agriculture biotech group funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, calling for a “harmonized” approach to gene-editing regulation, meaning that the FDA would not regulate alterations that can be achieved through conventional breeding, such as the hornless calves or all-male cattle.

It is easier than ever for advocacy groups to spread disinformation on pressing science issues, such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. No, vaccines are not harmful. Yes, the use of biotechnology, GMOs or gene editing to develop antigens for treatments including vaccines are part of the solution. To inform the public about what’s really going on, we present the facts and challenge those who don't. We can’t do this work without your help. Please support us – a donation of as little as $10 a month helps support our vital myth-busting efforts.